


she was a gal, and she had a pal

by swanmills



Series: Swan Queen Week: Summer 2016 [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Swan Queen Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanmills/pseuds/swanmills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>can i make it any more obvious?<br/>regina admits to emma that she's never been on a date. cue emma trying to find a bachelor that meets her criteria for her best friend. <br/>Swan Queen Week Summer 2016, Day 1: Confessions</p>
            </blockquote>





	she was a gal, and she had a pal

**Author's Note:**

> i rarely write but i always try to write at least a few days out of swan queen week. i’m currently thousands of miles away from my home laptop, so this is being typed on a phone. sorry if autocorrect is a bitch.   
> and not to toot my own horn or anything, but confessions was the prompt i submitted :) i’m super happy to write for it!

Every Friday night was Mom’s Night In. Similar to Girl’s Night Out, except Emma and Regina drank expensive wine and had the background noise of a Lifetime soap opera in the background as they talked about their week. 

After the first awkward weeks consisting of things such as a) topics never straying from Henry, or work, or magic and b) Regina buying new, more comfortable furniture because she actually wanted people to visit her house, Emma found herself looking forward to Friday evenings (and most of the time, Saturday mornings, because Regina always said Emma shouldn't drive and she always had extra pancake batter for breakfast, anyway).

They learned a lot of random facts about each other, ranging from harmless to “I can blame sharing that on the amount of alcohol I've consumed.” Regina was allergic to most citrus fruit, which is why apples were her go-to healthy snack. Emma was deathly afraid of wasps. Regina hated small, dark spaces. When Emma was eight, she found her foster mother’s make up and drew with it on the bathroom mirror. Sharing snippets of each other’s lives made them even closer than they had been before. Emma knew a while ago that Regina was the closest thing she could consider a best friend, as she'd do anything for the other woman, but the label was weird to her, like putting on a pair of pants several sizes too small, as she had never really used it for another person before. She was sure Regina felt the same. They felt the same on a lot of subjects. She was rarely shocked when she found out something new about Regina. 

So needless to say, one Friday night, a shock came when Emma had brought up the subject of boyfriends. She had broken up with Hook several weeks ago, and was still getting used to the freedoms of being single (and not having to smell the combination of alcohol and fish constantly).

Regina mused for a second, sipping her wine. “I had Robin,” she admitted, “but that's where my experience ends. We didn't really ‘date’ back in the Enchanted Forest. I've never even been on a date.”

Emma’s eyes got wide. “Really? Never?”

“It's not like I have suitors lining up to meet up with me, Emma.” Emma heard the humor laced in Regina’s voice, but her eyes said otherwise.   
It was an easy decision to make. 

Emma set her mug of wine (“It's easier to drink that way! It's not like we’re in a fancy restaurant.”) down on the coffee table, making sure it hit a coaster, because Regina always got onto her about that. “I'll make them line up for you.”

“Emma, please. You're drunk-”

“I'd say tipsy at best, personally.”

“-and it's not like you're going to find anyone interested in me, anyhow. Even with all I've done, I'm still the Evil Queen to them. Especially when we just defeated her.”

Emma stood up, ignoring the slight rush it brought to her head. “I'm going to find you the perfect suitor,” she said, “and they're going to give you your happy ending once and for all!” She planted her hands on her hips. “I can prove it!”

“Sit down, Emma.”

“Regina, I'm your friend! This is what friends do!”

“If you sit down, I'll start yesterday’s recording of Law and Order.”

Emma grumbled. “You always know my weak spots.” She slumped back into the couch, tucking her legs into the blanket draped across, and pointed an accusing finger at Regina. “Don't think I've forgotten about this, though.”

\---

Monday afternoon, Emma strolled into the mayor’s office, a stack of papers in hand. 

“I've come with answers!” she announced, walking right past the secretary and marching up to Regina’s desk. 

“Is that the paperwork that was due Friday?” Regina asked. 

Emma’s eyes quickly darted to a painting on the wall before looking back at Regina. “Uh, no.”

Regina pursed her lips. 

“But!” Emma held up a hand in defense, the other hand setting the stack of papers down. “I have about twenty, I think, copies of a questionnaire!”

“For what?” Regina scrunched her eyebrows together. 

“For your upcoming perfect bachelor, of course! You didn't think I forgot, did you?” Emma gave her signature smile (which always made Regina’s heart skip a beat, but only because Henry had inherited the exact one, of course). Emma took the top stapled packet out of the pile and handed it to Regina. “Here's your copy, so I have others to compare it to.”

Regina looked at the papers in half awe, half annoyance. “You created a series of… 100 questions?” she asked, quickly flipping through the packet and skimming the questions. 

“Well, I just used copy and paste. I took it off a website. But I'm not using it for profit, so it's probably legal.” Emma shrugged. “I'd figure you'd answer your questions, I'd hand these out to some guys I find in town-”

“You're going to parent me up with some random man on the street?”

“I'm a good judge of character! Anyway, I'll find the one or two guys that seem to fit your questions the most, and then I'll plan a date for you!” Emma took the rest of the papers off Regina's desk and hugged them to her chest. 

“Emma…” Regina started. “Thank you. So much. No one has ever put this much effort, much less any, into trying to make me happy. But finding people for me to date? And then planning said dates? It's an… unconventional way of trying to get me a significant other. Unless you're going to volunteer yourself…”

Emma cackled, nervously. “I'm not- I'm not offering up myself, Regina, it's not like you're into women-”  
“You've never asked.”

“-and I'm just, ya know, silly ol’ me.” Emma tightened her grip on the papers. “I'm gonna hand these out to people and you can just… fill that out. Cool beans? Gotta head out!” She pivoted on her foot and sped out the door. 

Regina sighed. Emma hadn't even bothered to close the door behind her. 

\---

Emma hurried over to the other side of the building into the sheriff’s office, where her father and Henry sat. 

(Henry liked to come to the station sometimes to hang out after school. It was nice, with him being a teenager and not hating his mother. It made Emma feel nice, and hip.)

Emma put the papers down on her desk, a little wrinkled from their journey. “Woo. Okay.” She looked up to see Henry and David looking at her oddly. Panicked, she blurted the first (and only) thing that came to her mind. “Did you know Regina likes women?”

The two most important men in her life blinked at her. 

“Sexuality wasn't labeled like it is here,” said David. “Regina had many lovers.”

“Ew.” Henry’s face pinched up for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. “Really though, Ma, even I knew that. She doesn't exactly keep it hidden.”

“I always think she had something with Maleficent,” David added. 

“I concur. I've written a few of their exchanges since we've come back from the Underworld, and they've had time to talk. They act like exes.”

An uneasy feeling settled in the depth of Emma's stomach, but she ignored it. Maybe that junk food diet was finally getting to her. “So… should I give one of these to Mal?” She motioned to the questionnaires on her desk. 

“If you want,” said David. Emma had explained to him her plan earlier in the morning. 

“Why do you care so much about who Mom likes?” Henry asked. 

“I'm her friend! It's practically my job. And… I want to see her happy, you know? And now that I know she's into women…” Emma scratched the back of her head, pondering. “Should I make more of these since I'll be handing them to a larger amount of people?”

“Wait, what even are those, anyway?” Henry jumped up and grabbed one of the packets. 

“I told David this morning. They're a series of questions so I can see who's best for Regina, and then I'll help her plan a date. She's filling out one of these forms as we speak. Did you know she's never been on a date? I figured I could help her out.”

Henry read some of the questions aloud. “‘What's your favorite color?’ ‘Who would you vote for in the next presidential election if the decision affected Storybrooke?’ ‘If you were stuck on an island and you could only bring three items, what would they be?’ ‘Describe your sexual personality in one wo…’ Jesus, Ma, these questions are ridiculous.” Henry balled up the papers he was holding and shot them into the trash can.

Emma ignored the fact that Henry always made the trash can while she seemed to always miss, and got to the point. “Hey! That was a potential suitor you just threw away!”

Henry looked pointedly at Emma and pushed the rest of the papers off of her desk. 

“Henry! I will literally ground you forever.”

“Ma!” Henry threw his hands in the air. “Making some random Storybrooke citizen fill out some paperwork? Planning Mom’s date for her? It should just be you at this point!”

Emma paused from picking up the discarded papers. “Kid, no. I mean, I like your mom…”

“It's pretty obvious you do. You act like you're basically in love with her.”

“No it isn't! And… I don't act like it!” Emma whipped her head around and looked at her father, who hadn't said anything in a while. He was playing solitaire on the computer. “Do I?”

David glanced up from his game to look at Emma. “You sort of do, sweetheart. You sacrificed yourself for her. Took in the darkness and all that.”

“I did that for the town,” Emma mumbled. 

“Yeah, maybe, but would you have become the Dark One for someone other than me, or Mom, or Gram and Gramps?” Henry butted in. “Probably not.”

“I was dating Hook at the time.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “And you've dumped him. You're over him. Honestly, I feel like you were over him a long time ago, probably because he liked you and you felt-”

“Okay, kid, that's enough. Let's not psychoanalyze Ma today.” Emma sloppily put the papers she had picked up on her desk, and slouched into her chair. She knew when she was defeated. “It's just… I dunno, I don't ever think Regina would like me like that.”

Henry snorted, obviously disagreeing. Emma glared at him, but continued. 

“I tried to think it was because she was straight. You know, if she didn't like women, I could just blame that, right? Poor old me, falling for a straight girl. Except she's not straight. Which just means,” Emma crossed her arms together, feeling small, “if she doesn't like me, she just doesn't like me. She's rejecting me.”

“Oh, Emma.” David got up and put a comforting shoulder on his daughter. Emma got up, accepting the invitation, and leaned her head on his chest. He hugged her in response. “How do you know she doesn't want you if you haven't even tried?”

“I don't want to know I'm not wanted,” Emma whispered. “We’re such good friends, you know? And I don't want to ruin that.”

“Here, I can help!” Henry rushed to Emma’s desk and snatched her phone sitting on the edge of it, quickly unlocking it (because seriously, both of his moms use his birthday as their password), and typed a quick message. 

“Henry, what are you doing?!” Emma got out of her father’s grasp and took her phone. “What did you send?”

Looking at her messages, she sees it:

Hey, Regina! I know you haven't filled out my packet yet, but I've found the perfect someone for your perfect date :) Go to Granny’s tomorrow night at 7:30. Don't be late!

“Henry, I don't use that much grammar. She's gonna know something’s up.”

Henry shrugged. “I had to type quickly before you could stop me. Most of it was autocorrect.”

Emma's eyes narrowed. “I wish I had stopped you.”

“But look! You go to Granny’s tomorrow night. You're the date, Ma! She'll appreciate it. I know it.”

Emma pursed her lips and looked down at her phone, anxiety racking over her. She looked at her son, who made her feel hopeful, and her father, who made her feel confident. “I'll give it a shot, I guess. 

“Great!”

Emma's phone chimes and she looks down to see the response. 

Okay. 

\---

The next night, Emma fiddled in her outfit, tugging it in loose places. It was a simple, light blue blouse and black slacks, and her hair is in a low side ponytail and curled (she had found her curler in the very back of her closet, obviously not having been used since she first arrived here). She slipped on a pair of nude heels and carefully marked every step before walking down the stairs to the apartment’s living room. 

“How do I look?” she asked. 

Her parents were beaming. Snow walked up to Emma, patting her shoulders and picking off invisible lint. “I'm excited for you. It's going to be wonderful.”

Emma cocked her head. “I had a feeling you of all people would be against it.”

Snow raised an eyebrow and gave her daughter a pointed look. “I'm practically the president of the Regina Mills fan club.” She smiled. “I can make you vice president, though, if you wish.”

Emma returned her smile, and chuckled softly, feeling the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

“Good luck!” David said cheerfully. 

“Ma.” Henry looked up from his phone. “If you and Mom decide to do a little extra after the date, make sure I'm asleep, okay? I don't really wanna write any of the gory details, or be awake if I do it.”

Emma scoffed, rolling her eyes, and David playfully hit Henry on the shoulders. “I doubt that's gonna happen, smart ass.” She grabbed her purse sitting in the coffee table and slipped her phone into it. “I'll see you guys later tonight?”

“Or tomorrow morning,” Henry quipped. 

“Or tomorrow morning. Because maybe I'm tired after and want a good night's rest.” Emma glared at him. “I'll see you guys later!”

And with that, she walked out the door, softly shutting it behind her.

\---

Regina walked into the diner cautiously, peering around. It was empty, and dimly lit, candles littering the premises. There was a figure sitting in one of the back booths. As she got closer, she realized…

“Emma?”

“Hi,” Emma greeted, her shoulder bunching up shyly. 

“Did something go wrong? Did the person you find not want to come?”

“It's not that,” said Emma. “You can sit down. I just… have a confession to make.”

Regina sits.

Emma took a deep breath. “I figured that trying to find someone else for you was stupid. Why would I try and find another person, have them figure out who you are, and plan a date around them when it could easily be me? On the date. With you. And it took some convincing from our teenage son and my dad, who's probably never been on a date either, honestly, but I like you, Regina. I don't know when it started, exactly, but I like you a lot. More than a friend. And I know you kind of joked about it being me, but it is. It's me.”

Emma, feeling like she had been babbling, stopped and took a drink of the water that was set out in front of her, cheeks tinting red. She looked at Regina for a response. 

“Oh, Emma. I wouldn't have said anything about it if I hadn't secretly wished you would take the hint.” Regina took Emma’s free hand and clasped it in both of hers. Emma immediately set her glass down and gave her other hand to Regina. Her grasp was warm. “I have a confession to make, too. The feeling is mutual.”

“It is?” Emma’s reply was shaky, but filled with emotion. 

“Emma, I once told Henry that I don't love very easily.” Regina thumb instinctively rubbed the back of Emma’s palm. “I still don't. It takes a lot for someone to take up space in my heart. But then they do, I give them my all. Emma,” said Regina, “I've given you my all.”

“I know,” said Emma. “I've given you my all, too.”

The two looked at each other for several moments before Regina figured the silence had started to grow awkward. “So, is Ruby here to take our order or will we have to cook the food ourselves?”

Emma laughed. (She didn't need to be so nervous. This was Regina. Her best friend. This was Mom’s Night In, except it was out, and it was a date, and that fact alone made Emma’s heart skip beats because Regina looked incredibly pretty tonight and maybe Regina didn't know she was dressing up for Emma, but maybe she did; she had dropped hints and as much sarcasm as Regina gave, Emma knew it was laced with warmth, because she gave Emma more credit than most. She liked being cared about. She liked people believing in her.) 

“Ruby’s here. I'm not that dumb. She'll come out any second if I'm correct and she's been eavesdropping on us with her werewolf hearing.”

And the first Mom’s Night Out commenced.


End file.
